A Literary Analysis of the Sweet Hereafter Essay

In the final section of the novel, The Sweet Hereafter, Banks seems to be using the demolition derby setting as a place for everyone to meet and see just exactly how things have changed in the town of Sam Dent since the tragic bus accident that happened the previous winter. It serves as a place that can be compared and contrasted with how the townspeople act this year versus the previous years. It is also a place where most everyone in the town comes annually. It may be told through Dolores’ perspective but she gives the reader an idea of exactly how different of an experience it is for her this year from last year. She also eludes through her narration how specific people are different this year. The most significant change in a person that I was able to notice was the change in Billy Ansel. Dolores commented on how he was drunk when she saw him at the demolition derby. He was carrying a flask with him and had a woman with him that was, as Dolores commented, â€Å"Not the sort of woman you’d expect to see in Billy Ansel’s company† (233). Dolores described the way Billy used to be by saying that he â€Å"had been a noble man; and now he was ruined† (235). I could tell differences in Billy as well. The first thing that tipped me off about how he was acting was that he was cursing profusely. Before all of this happened he would curse, but at the demolition derby it was like he couldn’t go for an entire sentence without cursing. Russell Banks did a very good job of changing the dialogue that came about in a conversation with Billy Ansel. It really gave me a sense of giving up. It seems to me that Billy has given up. He no longer is trying to be the pillar of strength that he used to be. He doesn’t hide the fact that he is a drunk and he doesn’t seem to care very much about the woman he is with. These are some very big changes in Billy. He is clearly a wounded and beaten man. I think that Dolores summed it up perfectly when she said, â€Å"I looked across to Billy Ansel and realized that what frightened and saddened me most about him was that he no longer loved anybody. All the man had was himself. And you can’t love only yourself†(237). Another reason why I think that Banks put Dolores at the Demolition Derby was to give her a chance to reflect upon all the other lives that were affected by the tragic accident. She goes on for two pages about all the people who  were different now. The Walkers were getting a divorce, the Lamstons were on welfare, the Bilodeaus and Atwaters were in jail for dealing drugs, and the Ottos were isolating themselves from the world. Because Dolores was in this situation with all the townspeople shunning her, it served as the perfect time and place to wrap up exactly what has become of the survivors and the families of the victims. Overall, the county fair and demolition derby was the perfect place to end the novel. It brought everyone together again because it was an annual event that the whole town attended. It served as a comparison to the past years when it would be in town. When you go to an event every year such as this you tend to know what to expect. This year Dolores had no idea and that scared her. The whole time she was there she was making then and now comparisons of the people who she saw. The reflections and comparisons are a perfect way to show exactly how affected by the accident the people of Sam Dent were. It seems to me that this town has given up just as Billy Ansel did. Dolores says, â€Å"All over town there were empty houses and trailers for sale that last winter had been homes with families in them. A town needs its children, just as much and in the same ways as a family does. It comes undone without them, turns a community into a windblown scattering of isolated individuals† (236). This is the way that I see this town as well. It definitely resembles what I would think that a windblown scattering of isolated individuals would look like. Clearly this accident has affected the whole town in a way that might never be repaired. And the last section that takes place at the demolition derby was a place for them all to come together and show each other exactly how different it all was.

Promote Equality & Inclusion Essay

Explain what is meant by Diversity Diversity means differences between individuals according to their nationality, age, culture, ability, race, sexual preference and religion Equality Equality means fairness and justness of individual rights, giving choices and opportunities in respect of individual needs Inclusion Inclusion means involving everybody, empowering individuals, encouraging choice and providing opportunities according to need What are the potential effects of discrimination on individuals Discrimination could potentially damage a service users self-esteem and their ability to develop and maintain a sense of their own identity How would you challenge discrimination if you discovered it in your care setting If I discovered discriminatory behaviour, I would question the person discriminating against the service user and suggest ways in which the service user could be included in the activity. If this did not work, I know how to report my concerns and trust my manager to rev iew and develop policies and procedures accordingly. How does inclusive practice Promote equality If you are including the person in whatever you are doing, you are treating them as a person, a unique being and not letting their disability preclude them from joining in with every activity that they are able to do, within their capabilities. Support diversity Allow people to be individuals and value their differences. Activity 2 (2.1, 2.2,) For each of the terms below Equality Diversity Discrimination Name the legislation that relates to this subject All of the above are now covered by the Equality Act which came into force on the 1st of October 2010. This combines lots of separate pieces of legislation into one single Act and provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and promote equality of opportunity for all. They are also covered by the Human Rights Act 1998, most provisions of which came into force on 2 October 2000. This guarantees the following rights The right to life. The right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The right to freedom from slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. The right to liberty and security of person. The right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable time. The right to freedom from retrospective criminal law and no punishment without law. The right to respect for private and  family life, home and correspondence. The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The right to freedom of expression. The right to freedom of assembly and association. The right to marry and found a family. The prohibition of discrimination in the enjoyment of convention rights. The right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions and protection of property. The right of access to an education. The right of free elections. The right not to be subjected to the death penalty. Identify the code of practice that covers this area The Code of Practice for Health and Social Care Workers covers this area, the principles of which are Commitment to equality, diversity and human rights values. Promoting equality, diversity and human rights in decision making. Advancement of equality, diversity and human rights. Monitoring equality, diversity and human rights performance. Commitment to equal access and open standards. Give an example from your organisational policy of how you apply the code in practice We do not have a specific Policy on Equality, Diversity or Discrimination, but the principles of these are embedded in all our Policies and Procedures. For example, our Policy on Maintaining Privacy and Dignity recognises that most interactions between employees and their service users demonstrate some form of dependence upon the employee, obligations exist therefore to ensure that a code of conduct is observed which ensures that all actions undertaken are the express wishes of the service user are conducted in such a way that the service user does not feel undervalued or inadequate protect privacy and dignity promote respect between the employee and the service user Service users Rights must be respected at all times. Service users have the right to Have their needs properly assessed and to have those needs met on a consistent basis, and to a defined level of quality Receive written information about the care they are receiving, together with its cost Exercise an appropriate degree of control over their lives Make informed choices and take decisions Make a complaint about any aspect of the service they are receiving Receive care, a ttention and services on an equal basis with all others Be protected from any abuse or conduct which is detrimental to their well-being and health Privacy Be treated in a manner which promotes dignity, well-being and understanding. Our Policy states that We will make every effort to ensure that the rights defined above are met on a consistent basis, that employees are adequately trained in, for example,  Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA), and will include representative Quality Statements in its Quality Assurance Programme. Our Handover Policy states that all records will be factual, accurate, jargon-free and non-judgemental in their reporting. How does it affect your work role We look at the client as an individual and do not treat her any differently to any other person. We will also protect her from discrimination by others according to the principles outlined in the Human Rights Act. Case Study Using the following situation, describe how you would put the service users interests at the centre of care. A service user has recently been admitted to the care home where you work. She originates from Bangladesh, but has lived locally with her son and his wife for several years. She does not speak or understand much English, as she has never felt the need or had the opportunity to learn the language. She is in the early stages of dementia, and is unable to understand what is happening to her. She lacks awareness of why she cannot live with her son any more. He feels he can no longer cope with her at his ho use and feels guilty because she is now in a residential home. His cultural background is one where there is an expectation on the oldest son to look after his family, which he is unable to fulfil. He comes on a regular basis to see his mother, but when he is not there she will not eat, drink or let anyone do anything for her. How can you ensure that She is not discriminated against She is treated equally All her needs are met I would treat her the same as everyone else, so that she does not feel discriminated against. In the above scenario, it would be important to learn some key words in her own language to help her to understand what is being requested of her so that she does not feel so isolated. We would need to ensure that her needs are met according to her cultural background, this may involve asking for help from her family to ascertain what support is required and how staff can make her feel more at home and also to find out if she has a particular faith and maybe invite the faith leader and members of the congregation to spend some time with her. We would need to make sure that she still has full access to her family. If there is a member of staff that she can relate to, ensure that she has some time with her. Ask the family to attend as often as practicable and maybe invite some of her friends in to spend some time with her. Ascertain whether she has any favourite foods that she will eat. Try to involve her  in the activities of the home and ensure she is included, whilst recognising that she is different ensure she has the same opportunities as everyone else.

Parent interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Parent interview - Essay Example Both Meighan and Mitch read the ‘required’ books that a lot of young parents read, from ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting† to the numerous pamphlets and handouts from their OB/GYN. They took a parenting class through their local health unit that taught the proper breathing techniques, as well as what to expect through labor and delivery and after the baby arrived. Settling into life with a new baby wasn’t that difficult for the Stevens’. Their personal life didn’t change that much from having the baby around all the time, they had support from both families and the transition to parenthood was a smooth one. Parenting isn’t always easy though, and there were some stressful times. Meighan says that she had a lot of problems trying to breast feed, at the time there was a lot of pressure to breast feed (from the many books, pamphlets and even the nurses in the hospital who seemed to push it) over bottle feed and Meighan felt like a failure when she couldn’t live up to the expectations. Thankfully, after a visit from a health unit nurse, who suggested that formula was not the enemy, Meighan relaxed and supplemented with formula. She felt less of a failure when subsequent doctor visits showed Sarah was thriving.

What is Psychosocial Studies How can this type of approach help us to Essay

What is Psychosocial Studies How can this type of approach help us to a better understanding of the self and society - Essay Example Sociology, in the above context, is a discipline studying the impacts of society on individuals. As for psychology, this can has been described as ‘the science of the soul’ (Goelenius in Banerjee, 1994, 225) and as ‘the science of consciousness’ (Banerjee, 1994, 225); at this point the content of consciousness should be described. Banerjee (1994) refers to the Locke’s definition of consciousness; Locke supported that ‘consciousness is the perception of what passes in man’s own mind’ (Banerjee, 1994, 225). The relationship between psychology and consciousness reveals the point of differentiation between sociology and psychology: the former addresses the social groups while the latter focuses on the individual – as the subject of consciousness, in the context of the definitions mentioned above. In other words, sociology and psychology are two disciplines, which are basically developed independently having different priorities and serving different needs. On the other hand, the points of interaction between sociology and psychology are also revealed: both disciplines are related at the point that all individuals are members of the society – as set by Aristotle. On the other hand, the responses of individuals to their environment may be differentiated under the influence of a series of factors; usually, the personal experiences and views have a crucial role in the development of specific human behaviour. However, certain times, the reactions to events of the personal or the social life are not aligned with the personal characteristics and attitudes but they are rather formulated in accordance with the rules and the ethics held in the society. It is clear that the framework in which the person can act independently has to be clearly defined – setting the borders of personal acting. Moreover, concepts like the

The hybrid cars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The hybrid cars - Essay Example The automobile emissions are one primary source of green house gases. The crux of all these facts consolidates around the words ‘cars’ and ‘pollution’. Just changing the type of cars we drive can make a significant contribution towards assuring a greener and healthier environment (Anderson & Anderson 14). The future is hybrid! Hybrid cars are the vehicles that rely on two or more disparate sources of energy to run (Mitchell, Borroni-Bird & Burns 22). Mostly the term hybrid cars are also considered synonymous with the Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). A Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) contains both an internal combustion engine that is run by gasoline as well as an alternate source of energy that is an electric battery. As per one’s requirements and traffic conditions, the driver can chose as to run a hybrid car on gasoline or on electricity. In addition, the dual mode cars that run on a mixture of fuels like gasoline and ethanol are also considered hybri d. Hybrid cars bring in an element of choice into the overall driving experience. They allow a driver to opt for cleaner and greener modes of driving. Low fuel consumption and reduced emissions are the factors that set hybrid cars apart from other vehicles (Westbrook 17).

IT Development And Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IT Development And Strategy - Essay Example Describe ways of managing the transition in the support, turnaround, factory, and strategic quadrants? Transitions in the role of IT are crucial to enabling organizations to evolve in their reliance on IT for sustainable business processes. Various factors that are derived from within the environment or outside promote the assimilation of IT with business processes for greater efficiency, etc, thereby prompting the transformation in the role from support to turnaround to the factory and to strategic quadrant. Usually, these triggers are received from the environment and the changing trends in time, which also explains why several firms solely relying on IT for support services began incorporating IT to provide other services to their global consumers. A shift to the turnaround quadrant is often characterized by a need to identify IT as an opportunity in order to usefully utilize insightful data analytics to change strategies thereby gaining an advantage. Organizations that base heavi ly on their factory processes also find IT integration quite helpful in helping them optimize their uptimes. By doing so, they try to circumvent serious downtimes, of which even the slightest, costs a huge amount to any particular organizations (Applegate, Austin, Soule 2009, p. 427). That is why organizations use IT systems in order to prevent significant downtimes to keep their factory operations running smoothly and efficiently. This demonstrates a shift from turnaround to factory quadrant.

Research Managing behavior in organization Essay

Research Managing behavior in organization - Essay Example 5 1- Leadership †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 2- Job-satisfaction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 3- Turnover intention †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Literature review †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Leadership styles †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Correlation between leadership style and job satisfaction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 Transformational Leadership: Positively impacting job-satisfaction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Personality characteristics between lea dership style and job †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 Research methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 Explanatory research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 Research Process †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 Observation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 16 Data gathering and Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 Developing Hypothesis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 Major findings †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 17 Leadership styles and job satisfaction correlated †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ... Business organizations are social systems that require efficient leaders to lead others, especially in today’s highly complex business contexts as businesses face tremendous challenges including globalization of markets, rapid technological advances, hostile takeovers, economic uncertainty etc. One of the very significant factors determining business success is employee satisfaction as well as their performance and therefore most businesses in recent days give greater emphasis on those leadership strategies that can foster employee satisfaction and thus to retain and attract high-performing employees. Leadership is essentially a highly-valued commodity. Most management and business experts ask themselves what makes good leaders and which leadership quality keeps employees more satisfied. A manager or a leader can perhaps manage a single event in different ways, but it is highly important that this should never bring adverse impacts on employee performance and their satisfactio n in order to ensure they fully cooperate in doing the tasks. Research Contexts As business environments are becoming more turbulent and rigorously competitive, it is critical that businesses adopt management and leadership strategies that can lead to large scale changes. Transformational change, reengineering and quality management are some of the recent developments (Politis, 2005, p. 203) that suggest large-scale changes with people-centered ideology so that growing issues like employee dissatisfaction, stress, employee turnover can be effectively addressed and managed. Leadership is an important organizational element that plays vital role in business success. As it

Fertility Pattern and Economic Struggle Research Paper

Fertility Pattern and Economic Struggle - Research Paper Example Feminism is a very important concept that must be thrown light upon when gender conflict is being talked about. Feminist aims at providing women more power and more rights than ever seen before. There are several feminists fighting for the rights of women all across the globe. Respect is also another important factor for which the feminists are consistently fighting. Gender conflict has made us understand how people enjoy preferential treatment and how the inferior strive for parity in the society. Race conflict is also quite similar to gender conflict, some people consider that their race is superior and others are inferior to them, this is certainly beyond the pale. Having a level playing field in the society is essential to facilitate growth; an ideal society always provides a level playing field. â€Å"Rae Lesser Blumberg developed a theory emphasizing women’s degree of control of the means of production and the distribution of economic surplus.† (Blumberg) Blumberg ’s aimed at explaining the position of women relative to men in almost all types of societies. These societies included the earliest societies to the late twentieth century. This theory discussed some really important aspects like economic power of women, importance of women in the society, economic power of women in the society, sexual stratification so on and so forth. â€Å"Sexual stratification, Blumberg argues, is ultimately driven by the degree to which, relative to men, women control the means of production and the allocation of productive surplus or, in Marxian terms, â€Å"surplus value.† Such control gives women  economic power  that, in turn, influences their level of political power, prestige, and other stratifying resources. In Blumberg’s view, sexual inequalities are â€Å"nested† at diverse levels: Male-female relations are nested in households; households are nested in local communities; and if a society is sufficiently large to revea l a coercive state and a system of class stratification, household and community are nested inside of the class structure that, in turn, is lodged within a larger state-managed society. This nesting is important because women’s control of economic resources can be located at different levels, and the level at which their economic power is strongest influences the power that women can command at the other levels of social organization.† (Feminist Conflict Theory) Macro level control and micro level control are some important aspects which must be paid attention to. A woman is ought to enjoy power in a household if she contributes immensely to the income of a household, she will have a say in micro aspects of the household as well if she can contribute towards work and family income. Similarly a woman who is not able to earn and contribute towards the household income will not enjoy as much freedom and control as a woman who can earn and support her family. Financial free dom is extremely important for a woman to be considered powerful enough; only a powerful woman can make decisions and can stand against oppression. Economic power at a macro level facilitates women in getting political as well as coercive power in the society. The economic power of women is consistently on the rise; this is the time of transition. This period of transition is perceived as a major threat by men.

Asian Financial Crisis 1997 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12000 words

Asian Financial Crisis 1997 - Coursework Example 20 HATEML-J, ABDULNASSER IRANDOUST, MANUCHE. "Export Performance and Economic Growth Causality: An Empirical Analysis.(Statistical Data Included)", Atlantic Economic Journal, Dec 2000 Issue 21 International Journal of Manpower, Volume 21, Issue 6 (2006-09-19) 22 (1-10-08) http://www.bis.org/publ/work95.pdf 23 http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-09212003-192501/unrestricted/YingYiChouElectronicDissertation2.pdf 24 Acumen PI- Title: What is aggregate demand Explain what determines the main components of aggregate demand, Date: 2002-01-30 25 (11-20-06) http://jesr.journal.fatih.edu.tr/osman.pdf 26 http://www.caec-asiaeurope.org 27 (3-21-08) http://oenb.at/de/img/ftr_1998_1_tcm14-6070.pdf 28 (8-28-07) http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/public/qb200703/E_21_31.pdf 29 (3-16-08) http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/pdf/079rev.pdf 30 Leng, Chao-Chun. "Stationarity and stability of underwriting profits in property-liability insurance Part II.", Journal of Risk Finance, Wntr 2006 Issue 31 Romero-Avila, Diego Usabiaga, Carlos. "Unit root tests, persistence, and the unemployment rate of the U.S. States.(Author abstract)", Southern Economic Journal, Jan 2007 Issue 32 (2-19-06) http://www.usvtc.org/trade/wto/WTO_ACC.doc 33 (12-14-07) http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/conferences/mmf2004/files/Kharroubi.pdf 34 for Further Study 62 References 66 Appendix A: Chronology of the Crisis 73 Appendix B: Economic Facts and Figures 75 Executive Summary WHILE IT MAY BE A DECADE OLD, THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS REMAINS A TOPIC OF SEMINAL CONCERN AND OF ACADEMIC INTEREST. THE CRISIS, WHICH ORIGINATED IN THAILAND AND SUBSEQUENTLY SPREAD TO SOUTHEAST ASIA'S FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES, BEGS THE QUESTIONS OF HOW' AND WHY.' HOW DID THE CRISIS OCCUR AND WHY WAS THERE A CONTAGION EFFECT.

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Choremonsters is striving to eliminate the tension experienced by parents when it comes to coordination of household chores. The innovation helps parents to communicate with the children and direct them on various chores. Children have an application that is linked to the child’s application thus improving coordination or cooperation between the parent and the child. This ostensibly makes it easy for the parent to be acquainted with their children’s performance on various chores when away from home. Moreover, Choremonsters is overcoming the ineffectiveness of chore charts. The application teaches the children how to do various tasks at an increased efficiency as compared to the traditional chore charts which children find hard to understand. Choremonsters also solves the problem of having to put excessive efforts to have the children perform chores. This niche has been in existence as there has been no application that has successful been able to digitally connect the child in such a way that enables the child to easily retrieve programmed

Why Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Why Philosophy Essay This paper is about the six questions in Philosophy I gave my reasons and belief’s one why I feel a certain way on each of the questions and after reading I hope you have a better take on Why Philosophy 1. Metaphysics: what is real? Well a lot of people would say that real is anything that could be touched, seen, smelled, or tasted using one of the five senses. But as a Christian I have to disagree I believe that you have to have faith in the fact that something’s are real weather or not you can sense them with the five senses. Take heaven and hell I believe that these are very real tangible places although I never seen touch smelled or tasted either one. So how do I know it is real well faith. I have never been to the Grand Canyon but I know that it is real with that being said how we know that heaven and hell is not real. 2. Epistemology: what is the relationship between faith and reason? Reason is to believe what can be proven math and science laws of gravity and physics nothing left to the imagination if you have reason then there is no need for faith. Whereas faith is the belief in things unseen there is a lot of issue with these two and the fact that if you’re a person of reason there is no room for faith the problem with that is that science does not explain everything so there has to be room for faith I without faith life is useless and you don’t have anything to live for. 3. Ethics: Is morality culturally based individually based or is there a universal morality? I have to say that this was a tough one to answer because really the answer is all three. Culturally based morality is learned through the interactions with the people with in your culture usually starting with the parent or guardian. There is also church or the village chieftain. Then there is the individual morality this take place after you been taught and raised and then you choose what to become or what your moral code will be will you protect your fellow man or will you choose to laws of the street. You then have the most unique morality term and that is the universal morality I call this unique because it is not chosen or learn or gained through life experiences it is automatically instilled in all people. Right and wrong which universal to all the most primitive civilizations understand that it wrong to steal or to murder without ever being taught even criminals know this is wrong they choose to do the wrong and willing to except that the consequences. 4. Aesthetic: is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder, or are there some things that all cultures find beautiful? Yes Beauty is in the eye of the beholder everyone one has there on mind when it comes to what is beautiful and what is not some like roses some tulips and so own this is evident in the people we choose to marry. If everyone agreed on what was beautiful then everyone would look the same or strive to be the same people find different things that they find to beautiful. That is not to say that there are things that a culture find beautiful. Let’s take our culture for example people believe that thin woman is what the population of men find beautiful so companies use this fact to exploit that beauty putting them on TVs and billboards. 5. Political Philosophy: How much power should the government have? The government should have a minimal impact on our lives. It is not supposed to bail out private businesses increasing the national debt. The government is not supposed to control the populace it is the populace that control the government. It is not the job of the government to make the decisions for the people. That is the problem with the government today they have too much power. 6. Social Philosophy: How should humans behave in a society? Humans in most cases depend on society to live and in order to function in a society there are certain rules that apply one being laws. Also respect for the others in that particular society. Freedom of speech and some other rights are lessened due to the infringement of other people’s rights. The rules are followed because of the convenience of living in a society. Such as supper markets gas station and things like these. Now if one was to live in the wilderness most of these rules would not apply for there would be no one’s rights to intrude on allowing them to do as they please but some rights have to be given up for the sake of the better good in a society.

Dworkin Theory of Law as Integrity

Dworkin Theory of Law as Integrity In Laws Empire, Dworkin has distinguished three legal conceptions: conventionalism, pragmatism and law as integrity  [1]  , by criticizing conventionalism and pragmatism, Dworkin concludes that law as integrity is the most plausible and defensible. However, criticism to Dworkins argument-law as Integritycan be seen in various academic works. In this essay, first and foremost, we will briefly discuss the basic arguments of Dworkins theory of law as integrity then we will go on to criticize Dworkins theory in light of relevant legal theories. Introduction of the Theory of Law as integrity Conventionalism Pragmatism In the theory of conventionalism, legal rights can only emerge from existing law, including precedents and legislation. Conventionalism also holds the view that judges must follow the law and should make decisions only based on existing statutes and more importantly, judges must respect what convention deems binding law.  [2]   According to the theory of pragmatism, assignments of legal rights and responsibilities must be consistent with past decisions. Moreover, the pragmatist theory holds the view that adjudication is not really constrained by the law. Hence, pragmatism argues that judges should decide what decision will, according to them, be best for the community as a whole.  [3]  This means that for reasons of strategy judges must sometimes act as if they are applying pre-existing legal rights.  [4]  In the meanwhile, in accordance with pragmatist theory, to some extent, the behaviour of a court in making decision of certain case is not constrained by the existing law. These two legal theories are highly criticized by Dworkin. As Dworkin points out that assumes that judges sometimes invent law, which means that they act in an unconstrained manner. Pragmatism also assumes that judges are hardly constrained when adjudicating cases. It thus cannot account for why judges are so concerned with precedents and statutes when they decide hard cases.  [5]   Dworkin then provides a third theory of law, which he believes not only better represents what actually happens when judges decide cases but is also a morally better theory of law. Law as Integrity The concept of Law as Integrity is a key to Dworkins Constructive Interpretation of legal practice.  [6]  According to Dworkin, judges should identify legal rights and obligations on the basis that all the rights and obligations are crated by the community as integrity, and all those rights and obligations express the communitys conception of justice and fairness. In accordance with Dworkin, the only way to understand legal practice seems to be thattaking the interpretative perspectives of the participant into consider in the practice. Dworkin claims that when judges (as well as lawyers) consider which way is the best to solve a legal issue, they should not simply identify exactly what positive law is applicable in a certain case, but taking an interpretative approach to law as social practice. Dworkin emphasizes that a solution to a certain case is always sought out through a matter of interpretative practice. Dworkins perspective here is quite against that of conventionalists, the conventionalists insist that in dealing with a certain case, the judge only should identify exactly what law is applicable. Furthermore, Dworkin points out that in the debate of a certain case, different opinions and arguments are raised by lawyers, and under this circumstance, the decision of what law is applicable in the case is usually based on what opinion the law amounts to in a particular matter rather than what conventions apply. Participants in such a debate thus do not attempt to link the facts of a case with the supposedly posited law applicable but rather interpret the law in light of a general normative justification or moral point expressed in it. A participant interpreting a social practice [i.e. the law], according to that view, proposes value for the practice by describing some scheme of interest or goals or principles the practice can be taken to serve or express or exemplify.  [7]   Dworkin argues that network of political structures and decisions of his community  [8]  must always be called on by a judge when the judge goes about adjudicating. For instance, legislation and case law which must be identified in a pre-interpretative stage Then in the following stages, the judge must always question himself whether his interpretation of this network could form part of a coherent theory justifying the network as a whole. No actual judge could compose of anything approaching a full interpretation of all of his communitys law at once. But an actual judge can () allow the scope of his interpretation to fan out from the cases immediately in point to cases in the same general area or department of law, and then still farther, so far as this seems promising.  [9]  In accordance with Dworkins arguments, the interpretation of law should not only fit into the legal system but also be the best normative justification of law as such, this means that not only must the i nterpretation of the judges be consistent with the law identified at the pre-interpretative stage, but also the law must be interpreted in a way which is the best in the participants mind. Moreover, according to Dworkins theory, both the judge and any other participant should adjust his own sense of of what the practice really requires so as better to serve the justification he accepts at the interpretative stage.  [10]   We notice that, in accordance with Dworkin, morality affects the whole process of adjudication of cases. By contrast, he dose not express the view that a certain case should be adjudicated and resolved on the basis of sole considerations of justice. Dworkin claims that the moral standards should be derived form the explicit and existing legal practice and contrary to positivists, Dworkin believes that moral principles that cohere with past legal practice are valid propositions of law as well-so much so that these principles can and should go beyond what legal conventions teach us the law is.  [11]   In Dworkins theory, there are two basic elements of law, one is a retrospective element, which he calls fit, and the other is a prospective element, which he calls justification.  [12]  Furthermore, Dworkin points out that in exercising the function of these two elements, judges are required to construct a theory of law which can both fit past legal decisions and makes the law as good as possible. In doing this, the judges are required to search out legal principles which have been previously mentioned in the historical and social characteristics of the legal system and then improve the law for the future by making it more coherent  [13]  . Hence, we can say that according to Dwokins theory, in dealing with a certain case, the judge should try to interpret the law in a way which promotes the coherence of the legal system as well as possible. In other words, it is to say that an interpretationwhich is the most coherent to legal systemis much better than an interpretation-which makes the legal system less coherent. This implies that when interpretation is concerned, there exists a certain tension between what is presented by the existing positivist material and what is the best way to interpret such material from a moral point of view.  [14]   From the view of Dworkin, a judge is like an author in writing a novel, in that case a new author is bound by what another author has written in a previous chapter, but the new author will subsequently attempt to continue the novel in the best possible way.  [15]  A judge should view his or her role in a chain in law, he or she is not purely independent, but is indeed independent to some extent,He knows that other judges have decided cases that, although not exactly like his case, deal with related problems; he must think of their decisions as part of a long story he must interpret and then continue, according to his own judgement of how to make the developing story as good as it can be.  [16]  In other words, Dworkin holds the view that law is not arbitrary but rather the expression of an underlying attempt at forming and clarifying a coherent legal consciousness of society.  [17]  Hence, in interpreting certain legal text, a judge is not completely free. The judge is no t allowed to inject any personal morality into the interpretation of the legal document. More essentially, a judge is required to interpret with the purpose of establishing coherence based on the integrity of existing law. Furthermore, decision making by the judge will depend, that is, not only on his beliefs about which of these principles is superior as a matter of abstract justice but also about which should be followed, as a matter of political fairness, in a community whose members have the moral convictions his fellow citizens have.  [18]  Dworkin also explains this in more general terms: There are two possibilities. Someone might say that interpretation of a social practice means discovering the purposes or intentions of the other social participants in the practice (). Or that it means discovering the purposes of the community that houses the practice, conceived as itself having some form of mental life or group consciousness. The first of these suggestions seems more attractive because less mysterious. But it is ruled out by the internal structure of an argumentative social practice, because it is a feature of such practices that an interpretive claim is not just a claim about what other i nterpreters think. () [A] social practice creates and assumes a crucial distinction between interpreting the acts and thoughts of participants one by one, in that way, and interpreting that practice itself, that is, interpreting what they do collectively. It assumes that distinction because the claims and arguments participants make, licensed and encouraged by the practice, are about what it means, not what they mean. () [An interpreter must therefore] join the practice he proposes to understand ().  [19]   Criticism of Dworkins Legal Theory Moral to full extent According to Michael Sandel  [20]  , Dwokins legal theory begins with the principles of freedom and equality that justify the institutions of democracy and law. However, as Stephen Guise points out that the claim that democracy is just and that law is part of democracy is a claim about a moral ideal.  [21]  If we go further, that is to say, in a moral level, the world without democracy is better than a democratic world. Since in a democratic world, laws are enacted and enforced but laws may be substantively unjust. Stephen Guest criticizes that The theory of Dworkins is moral to the full extent. Interpretation is therefore is not constrained by facts even though it makes use of facts. It does not follow that his theory is subjective, because his moral views like all moral views are subject to revision, correction and, in short, reason.  [22]  Stephen Breyer says that constitutional standards keep subjective judicial decision-making in check.  [23]  In my mind, it is right, but not purely right, that is because, this statement implies that there exists some external checking fact on these judicial subjective judgments, more importantly, this statement demonstrates that judges should not formulate applicable constitutional standards. In the theory of Dworkins, interpretation is something close to the end-product of moralizing with others who are largely in agreement and who endorse true propositions of modality.  [24]  This means that the origin of Dworkins legal theory is moral pro posals concerning equality and freedom. Dworkin cannot explain the extraordinary rigidity of the U.S. Constitution, in particular the way that entrenched provisions of the Constitution conservatively constrain judges by imposing the dead hand of the past  [25]  . In Dworkins perspective, there is no categorical distinction between distinction history and substance, although there is an argument of fit, as we mentioned before, this is merely another form of argument of substance. So in Dworkins theory, there is no way of identifying historical facts about the Constitution distinct from its moral substance. The only arguments are moral arguments and as we mentioned in the first part, Dworkin expresses the idea that entrenched positions can be interpreted morally, in terms, for example, of the protection of democratic decision-making. So law is a form of moralizing that is also an integral part of democracy. If we genuinely believe in equality of respect, we naturally end up with endorsing representative democracy, which means legislative activity through delegated agency. It is not just that the legislature represents my view through legislation but, merely in its existence, it expresses my conviction that I respect others equally. Since I do, I must allow that their convictions count, too, and so I must abide by whatever the procedural outcome is of this respect I owe to others. Moral convictions and objectivity. There is a conflict in Dworkins theory, on one hand, Dworkin emphasizes objectivity in decision making, on the other hand, Dworkin put decision onto a moral basis. As Duncan Kennedy  [26]  claims that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the judges should not choose the interpretation that applies their own moral and political convictions. I personally dont see what else they could applyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Furthermore, as Waldron points out that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦These are convictions, not whims, and even where there is nothing else but ones own convictions to follow, no-one thinks that it means those convictions are rightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã‚  [27]  So it is rare or even impossible that a judge will not take personal moral convictions into the process of adjudication or interpretation. Unclear about Justice By holding the same view with Waldron, Smith  [28]  supposes that Dworkins idea or justice is not clear since Dworkin has argued that justice depends on recognizable principles. Furthermore, Smith questions that why should a principle of justice have to be recognizable?  [29]  For principles of justice will surely gain moral recognition if they do because they have force independent of recognition. Someone has to do the recognizing first. How to achieve ideal integrity? Susan Hurley  [30]  defends Dworkins perspective against a claim by Kenneth Kress  [31]  that Dworkin cannot provide a coherent consideration of law in circumstances where there is an intervening judicial decision between a set of facts that ground litigation and the litigation itself. Does the judge decide on the basis of the previous law, or the intervening law? Hurley concludes that if the intervening decision is right, then there is coherence, therefore, there is no problem; if it is wrong, it is a mistake, and need not count. A question may be raised here thatalthough it may have created further rights, say, to reasonable expectations being met, which will cohere with integrity? Moreover, Hurley  [32]  sees the problem in terms of overall moral coherence untrammeled by worries about descriptive facts'. So Hurley usefully broadens the picture by pointing out that coherence is determined as much by hypothetical facts, those that test the limits of principle (and which judges often use), as they are by judicial decisions. Furthermore, as we mentioned before, in Dworkins legal theory, when dealing with a particular case, a judge should interpret and apply law in light of the whole legal system, and make interpretation which is consistent with the integrity of the legal system. However, is this really applicable in practice? In accordance with Waldron  [33]  , it is a challenge to Dworkins descriptive optimism that the facts of the American legal system could make it impossible to give an overall account of American law that would remain true to integrity. But as Stephen argues that there is no such tension between facts and moral optimism as he appears to envisage. The facts are either incorporated into the argument that makes for integrity or they are discounted. There is the possibility that the American legal system has become so dysfunctional that no moral case for integrity can be made for it, but that seemingly remote possibility would not be an embarrassment for Dworkins theory.  [34]  Waldrons comments seem to imply that there are facts that determine law independently of interpretation. And so it has the general form of: Imagine a legal system where integrity might not apply; what then? Dworkins reply can only be and it is his reply that We cannot be sure, before we look, because noth ing in his legal theory requires that all legal systems display integrity  [35]  . Finally, Dworkin must allow that, by making best sense of an existing legal practice, we may still conclude that the practice failed the ideal. Take the fugitive slave Acts for instance.  [36]  What should the judges do when they are legally required to send captured slaves back to the South? In order to maintain the integrity of legal system, the judges should send those slaves back but to achieve the goal of justice, judges should set the slaves free. Hence, the outcome of the judgment represents a serious conflict between integrity and jusitice. A positivist will deal this case by distinguishing legal justice and real justice, but in Dworkins theory, this is criticized. According to Dworkins theory, the relevant ideal here is the ideal of integrity; it is through bad legal argument that one fails to meet that ideal, and it is bad because it hasnt made maximal use, in the circumstances of actual practice, what that actual ideal of integrity requires. So interpretivism produces an ideal, but it is not the outcome that would be the best in all possible worlds, which is how we ordinarily think of ideals. But maybe this doesnt particularly matter. We have the ideal solution in integrity and this differs from the ideal solution in justice. At times both fairness and efficiency require following precedents, but integrity is different, although it will serve both those values as well. Nevertheless, the ideal of integrity appears to be constrained by existing practices in a way that the ideal of justice is not. Or, by its nature, it seems, interpretation is only possible within the existing world, which suggests it is not an ideal at all. A cruder way of putting this point is that making the best sense of existing legal practices is no more than adequately characterizing equity deficits, that is to say characterizing how far these practices fall short of the ideal. If the Legal System is Wicked Obviously, a consequence of Dworkins views is that the legal system itself may not contain too many mistakes. That is because in Dworkins theory, the normative dimension feeds on the law itself, and more importantly, Dworkin emphasizes the relationship between local politics and law. As a matter of fact, Dworkins theory is constructed on the presupposition that the integrity of the legal community is in a large measure reflected in its law. So if the justification of law is to flow from societys political decisions (in the form of law), it follows that these decisions must also be justifiable as such; but this is obviously not always the case, as the examples of Apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany show. Why would we make racism the best it can be? Dworkins argument here is circular in that it presupposes, in his case, the existence of a liberal democracy  [37]   We also note that Dworkins theory does not require abandoning the history or anthropology of wicked legal systems. As we mentioned before, Dworkin holds the view that law should be treated as conventional, because that is a theory that clearly has a moral point  [38]  . There is no need to talk in terms of the Hart-Dworkin debate'  [39]  Stephen claims, especially as they barely debated these questions. The debate should instead concern the theoretical question of the identification of the conditions according to which propositions of law are true. That debate is important because it concerns, amongst other matters, our moral obligation to conform to law. And so while it is right that we move away from the Hart- Dworkin debate, it would be wrong to move from questions concerning the identification of law, because these are at the core of our moral obligations to the community.  [40]  It is true that there will be occasions when the law requires something the moral force o f which grates with a judges personal convictions. There will therefore be occasions when it may be morally right for the judge to lie where justice trumps integrity. But I dont see how any of this affects Dworkins theory unless, yet again, one supposes that some descriptive fact defeats the moral judgment. Both the systems of apartheid and Nazism contained elements of good that could be put to use through integrity. Since these systems regularly enforced equality in some spheres, and morality says that the racial classifications are wrong, then the laws promoting the immoral policies can be made out as dysfunctional, perverted, or even mistaken and, so, not creative of moral obligations. However, if there is no articulated and public structure that, as Dyzenhaus says, citizens have been encouraged to obey and treat as a source of rights and duties,  [41]  it is difficult to see what is left. Where there is such a semblance of law, of an articulate public structure of rights an d duties, citizens acquiescence forms something of a legitimizing base, which, incidentally, Fuller called the external morality of law.  [42]   What will be interpreted cannot be distinguished from the interpretation itself It is not very clear in what respect an analogy can be drawn between law and literature in that legal texts constrain judges in their interpretative activities. Some argue that legal texts themselves are texts as well and thus also must be interpreted. In other words, what is to be interpreted cannot be distinguished from the interpretation itself. There is no such thing as a text out there  [43]  , and meaning is derived from interpretation. From that point of view, a previous legal text as such does not put any constraints on its interpretation but rather on the shared understandings that live within the interpreting community. Conclusion As we have discussed throughout this essay, although Dworkin tried to provide a theory of law, which, at least in his opinion, not only better represents what actually happens when judges decide cases but is also a morally better theory of law. It seems that his work is unsuccessful. Dworkin tried to avoid the shortcomings of both conventionalist theory and pragmatist theory. In the theory of law as integrity, when comes to interpretation of law, on one hand, Dworkin expects to make the judge constrained by law by arguing that the interpretation of law should follow the step of former decisions and be coherent with the existing legal system, on the other hand, Dworkin tries to make the judge creative, and emphasizes on the moral issues in the process of interpretation. Moreover, Dworkin connects law with other social elements, such as politics and local community, and enlarged the conception of integrity. In conclusion, we see Dworkins theory of law as integrity is good in a moral level but bad in a legal level. As we have discussed in this essay, Dworkins theory of law as integrity lacks applicability, if a theory only sounds good but could not be applied in practice, this theory is not a good one. In addition, as a legal theory, Dworkins theory of law as integrity fails in the following essential aspects. Firstly, this theory made its sole concept integrity conflicted with the concept of justice under certain circumstances. Secondly, when Dworkin makes law closely related to politics, actually, more problems have been raised rather than solved.

What Ways Does An Individuals Behaviour Change?

What Ways Does An Individuals Behaviour Change? This essay will explore whether an individuals behaviour truly changes when they are part of a group through the consideration of various perspectives, methods and underpinning epistemological assumptions and will take the viewpoint that an individuals behaviour does change when s/he is part of a group, however it is necessary to consider the context, such as societal and cultural factors and the importance of experience, interactions, social norms and values as one branch of social psychology, or one form of experimentation cannot fully predict or explain group and individual behaviour. The most prominent debates, theories and studies in relation to group behaviour will be discussed from a multi-perspective position, mainly exploring the social and cognitive aspects of group behaviour, as well as the methodology of experimentation and how group behaviour is measured. This will ensure that a reductionist approach to the subject is avoided. Key factors involved in group behaviour incl ude; obedience, conformity, groupthink, social identity theory (Tajfel, 1979), prejudice, stereotypes and schemas, which will be discussed and evaluated alongside relevant research throughout the essay. This is due to how these factors influence how an individuals behaviour changes under group influence, for example how Aschs line test portrayed the effects of majority influence (Asch, 1952). A group has been defined by some theorists as two or more individuals who perceive themselves as being members of the group or social category (Turner, 1982; Brown, 2000). Group behaviour refers to a situation in which individuals interact in small or large groups, within these groups there may be certain norms, values which are internalised within the individual (Vygotsky, 1978), communication patterns and status differentials. The majority of research conducted in the area of group behaviour is mainly based in the experimental psychology perspective; however critical and qualitative psychologists argue there is a lesser focus on the study of behaviour in context which ideally involves the acknowledgment of the impact of society and culture on group behaviour (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Fox Prilleltensky, 1997; Gergen, 1973; Himmelweit Gaskell, 1990; Renshon Duckitt, 2000), social roles, environments, experiences, relationships, and a movement away from laboratory based measurements. Within mainstream psychology there is still a focus on the cognitive and affective aspects of behaviour, whilst individual level processes which are fundamental in social and group processes are not always acknowledged. According to Nafstad Blakar (Nafstad Blakar, 2012); A full-fledged social psychology cannot be based on experimental laboratory research alone. This is because it is necessary to concentrate on methodological approaches for future research as much of the quantitative experimental psychology involved in addressing and measuring group behaviour does not acknowledge core social aspects such as social life, social behaviour and human development as social beings. One key area within group behaviour is obedience. The study of obedience entails the tendency to comply with orders from an authority figure and where group behaviour is concerned obedience entails an individual adapting their actions in order to comply with the groups wishes or rules. Concerned with the atrocities committed during Nazi Germany, Milgram explored the effects of obedience under the influence of authority (Milgram, 1974). Participants, who witnessed the confederate being strapped into a chair with electrodes in another room, were given the role of teacher whilst a confederate of the experimenter was given the role of learner; The teacher was expected to administer an electric shock for every wrong answer in what they were lead to believe was an experiment about learning, the shocks increased at 15 volt increments and when the participant refused to administer the shocks, they were given standard instructions (prods) by the experimenter, who wore a lab coat, therefore ac ting as an authority figure within the group. 65% of participants administered the full 450 volts, suggesting that obedience is related to situational pressures. In order to attempt to explain why individuals would behave in the way they did during the experiment, Milgram proposed the agency theory. The agency theory according to Milgram consists of two states; the autonomous state, in which individuals make decisions on their own ideas and beliefs, and the agentic state, in which in which individuals give up responsibility and defer the responsibility to those of a higher status. Although the agency theory does attempt to explain rare occurrences such as the obedience in events such as the Mai Lai Massacre and Nazi Germany, there may be other explanations for the obedience, as suggested by French and Raven (French Raven, 1959) who suggested there are five different types of power; legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power and referent power. It is also important to note that the agency theory is more of a description of how society works, rather than explaining why individuals obey authority figures against their better j udgement in some situations. The theory of groupthink could also be applied in order to explain the phenomological behaviour in Milgrams study, as groupthink entails group decisions which are often irresponsible, dangerous, made under extreme pressure and dominated by a powerful leader, therefore Milgrams theory alone by not be sufficient in exploring individual and group behaviour. There are several ethical issues within Milgrams study such as the lack of debriefing, the distress caused to the participants and deception about the nature of the study. Also, despite Milgram carrying out several variations of his original experiment, the experiment has methodological flaws. Due to the laboratory setting of the experiment there was a distinct lack of ecological validity as the obedience portrayed in compliance with an authority figure does not necessarily represent and cannot be generalised to real life social interactions. It has been suggested that Milgrams experiment became caught up in the broader processes of psychologisation (De Vos, 2009). This is due to the power of science and the authority of experimentation which is suggested in the study, specifically where the experimenter acts as an authority figure within the peer-group, urging participants to continue with the experiment. Also, it has been argued that the experiment dramatizes peoples capacity for violence (Brannigan, 2004) and only demonstrates a short-term measure of obedience (Stainton Rogers et al, 1995). Taking these points into consideration, the need for a multi-perspective view of group behaviour can be reiterated as a concentration on laboratory experiments alone does not fully account as an explanation of group behaviour and obedience, this is further evidenced by the suggestion that Milgram does not make a concise conclusion concerning the study. We are led to no conclusions about obedience, really, but rather are exhorted [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] to be impressed with the power of your situation as an influence context (Parker, 2000). Further replications of Milgrams original study were conducted in order to address some of the issues which were presented within the experiment, such as ethical issues (Burger 2009) and methodological flaws (Meeus and Raaijmakers, 1995), therefore taking a further qualitative stance on the original study. A solely experimental approach to the study of obedience within individual and group behaviour may not necessarily be useful, although the phenomenon of obedience is portrayed in Milgrams experiment, no true conclusion or explanation is drawn due to a lack of acknowledgement of social, political and cultural factors, and a reliance on quantitative and experimental social psychology. Another area of study within individual and group behaviour is conformity. Conformity is the influence on an individual which may alter their beliefs or behaviour in response to the pressure of a group in order to internalise or fit in with a group. According to Man (Man, 1969) there are three types of conformity; these are normative, which is a desire to be liked by the group, informational, which is a desire to be correct and identification which is conformity to a social role. Aschs well known line study explores normative conformity due to the participants attempts to avoid rejection from the group and informational conformity due to the participants desire to be correct. Asch suggests that an individual will attempt to internalise with a group and display the effects of majority influence (Asch, 1952). The experiment consisted of a participant who was given a selection of lines and was asked to judge which was most similar to a comparison line in the presence of others, who were actually confederates of the experimenter who were instructed to purposely give incorrect answers. 5% of participants conformed to all of the trials, 33% conformed to over half of the trials and 25% did not conform at all. Several variations of the original experiment were conducted; when one confederate was present none of the participants conformed, however when more than three confederates were present strong conformity occurred. This suggests the effects of majority influence and pressure on the individual to act in a manner in accordance to a group, the desire to be liked and avoidance of rejection from the group. Aschs line study distinctly lacked ecological validity due to its artificial laboratory setting, which suggests that the experiment had low ecological validity and may be difficult to generalise to a real-life situation. A replication of Aschs original experiment in which the participants were British engineering, mathematics and chemistry students suggested low reliability within the original study, out of the 396 trials, a participant conformed with the incorrect majority on only one trial.. Aschs experiment has been referred to as a child of its time, due to the social, political and historical context in which Aschs experiment was conducted, as conformity was a social norm during Post-World War Two era, whilst the notion of individualism was rejected (Perrin and Spencer, 1980). The lack of reliability in the study may be due to a change in what is socially acceptable rather than a methodological flaw, and therefore it is of importance to acknowledge social norms and values whilst studying group behaviour as well as the notion that group behaviour cannot be based within experimental psychology alone (Nafstad and Blakar, 2012). One prominent theory which may be applied to real life examples of group behaviour is Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1979). Social Identity Theory details how membership to a group gives an individual a sense of social identity, these groups are important in enhancing an individuals self-esteem and pride, therefore individuals may attempt to increase the status of their own group, or simply discriminate against an out-group through social categorisation. Discrimination against an out-group occurs through prejudice and stereotypes which occurs through three cognitive processes; social categorisation, which is the decision about which group you belong to, social identification, which is more overt identification with the in-group, and social comparison which is comparison to the out-group which is believed to be inferior, this in turn increases the self-esteem of the in-group (Tajfel Turner, 1979). Although it can be argued that Social Identity Theory can provide a concise and full e xplanation for the formation if in-groups and out-groups, it does not clearly define how the process occurs and also is not a predictor of behaviour (Hogg, 2000). Therefore, although Social Identity Theory can explain some aspects of group behaviour, it may not be applicable to real world phenomenon as it cannot provide full explanation for real-life group behaviour such as acts of terrorism. In real-world research, such as a psychological approach to terrorism, it has been suggested that it is necessary not to allow cognitive biases to cloud the analysis of political situations (Abrahms, 2006; Scheier, 2007). Therefore, experimental psychology alone may not be useful in analysing and explaining real-life situations. However, Zimbardo (Zimbardo, 2002) argues that terrorism is all about psychology as it is key to understanding the motives, values and ideology of terrorists; therefore it is clear there is debate as to how real-life examples of group behaviour should be studied. Although many of the most prominent studies in the area of group and individual behaviour are based within experimental psychology, there is a tendency for discursive, critical and qualitative psychologists to argue that there is a need for the exploration of social norms, values and experiences, rather than the notion held by experimental psychology which simply acknowledges that these factors have an affect. When considering the experiments and debates which are discussed within the study of group behaviour, in order for future research to attempt to provide a more concise explanations of group behaviour it may be appropriate to concentrate on people on an individual level within context as well as their actions in a group situation, for example acknowledging their experiences, relationships, values and social roles in order to draw conclusions as to why individuals act in accordance to a group instead of simply displaying extreme phenomena such as in the cases of Milgram and Zimba rdo. It has been suggested that current mainstream social psychology is primarily characterised by the study of the interactions between the individual and groups through experimental study and as a result of this, context such as social and cultural levels have not been represented to their true extent (Doise, 1982/1986). References Abrahms, M. Why Terrorism Does Not Work, International Security, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp.42-78. Asch, S. E. Social psychology. New York: PrenticeHall, 1952 Brannigan, A. (2004) The Rise and Fall of Social Psychology: The Use and Misuse of the Experimental Method. New Jersey: Aldine Transaction. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Brown, R. (2000) Group Processes: Dynamics within and between groups (2nd ed.), Oxford, Blackwell. Burger, J. (2009). Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today? American Psychologist, 64, 1-11. De Vos, J. (2009) Now that you know, how do you feel: The Milgram experiment and psychologisation. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 7, 223-246. Accessed at: http://www.discourseunit.com/arcp/7.htm on 24th November 2010. Doise, W. (1982/1986). Lexplication en psychologie sociale/Levels of explanation in social psychology. Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de lHomme. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fox, D., Prilleltensky, I. (Eds.). (1997). Critical Psychology. An Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. French, J. R. P., Raven, B. The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright, A. Zander. Group dynamics. New York: Harper Row, 1959. Gergen, K. J. (1973). Social psychology as history. Journal of personality and social psychology, 26, 309-320. Himmelweit, H. T., Gaskell, G. (Eds.). (1990). Societal Psychology. London: Sage Publications. Hogg, Michael A.; Williams, Kipling D. (2000). From I to we: Social identity and the collective self. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 4 (1): 81-97 Man, L (1969). Social Psychology. New York: Wiley Meeus, W.H.J., Raaijmakers, Q.A.W. (1995). Obedience in modern society: The Utrecht studies. Journal of Social Issues, 51 (3), 155-175. Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York: Harper Row Parker*, I. (2000). Obedience. Granta, 71(4): 99-125. Perrin, S. Spencer, C. (1980) The Asch effect: a child of its time? Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 32, 405-406. Nafstad, H. E. Blakar, R. M. (2012). Ideology and Social Psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 6 (4), 282-294. Renshon, S. A., Duckitt, J. (2000). Political psychology. Cultural and crosscultural foundations. London: MacMillan Press Scheier, B. (2007) The Evolutionary Brain Glitch that Makes Terrorism Fail, WIRED. Accessed at: http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2007/07/securitymatters_0712 on 25th October 2007. Stainton Rogers, R., Stenner, P., Gleeson, K. Stainton Rogers, W. (1995). Social Psychology: A Critical Agenda. Polity: Cambridge Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Col Turner, J. C. (1982). Toward a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup behavior (pp. 15-40). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Zimbardo, P.G. (2002) Psychology to Play Key Role in National Centre on Terrorism. Monitor on Psychology, 33 (11), December 2002. Accessed at: on 23 January 2006.

Campaign Finance Issues Essay -- essays research papers fc

GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION We are not a democracy, yet we do have a voice in our own government. Elections are the choice microphones for many citizens. There on Election Day, they have the right of making their voices heard; however, many interest groups and a few individuals seem to have a louder voice due to campaign financing: No U.S. official should be beholden to one or a few groups. And no group or individual should have a greater claim on our elected leaders than any other. That’s the way it should work. But it is growing clear to more and more Americans that it doesn’t (McCarthy 24). Recently, it has been the trend to try to make sure the opinions and concerns of minorities are duly noted and pondered on. The only problem seen with this comes about whenever the minority â€Å"buy† the attention of politicians. Typically, minorities are more than a number. The grossly rich, while small in number and percent, have never counted as a minority, but these are the only ones who can afford to give enough support to a candidate to draw attention to them. Again, we see an aristocratic government. Even interest groups of true minorities can’t give enough to impress anyone. Now that we have seen the dangers of campaign financing, we should go back and find out how it started. Max McCarthy speaks of a time when everything got worse in politics. This was not to imply that everything had been perfect before, but once the media gets involved, things tend to go differently. Many years ago, the media began to play a vital role in the political education of our citizens, with radios and televisions. Before, only those with real authority had any complete knowledge of what went on with governmental politics. As each candidate was brought closer and closer to the American people, they actually started to care about things that before were nicely kept secrets. The opinions of these, now seemingly real people, instead of future historical figures, were actually heard, and the people actually knew who they were voting for. With the start of this new technology, campaigning was much easier; all that was needed was enough money to get the name recognition: As campaign costs have skyrocketed in recent years, the percentages contributed by the parties and small individual donors have declined . . . An ever-growing... ...www. Fec.gov Connolly, Ceci. 1999. "Washington Post Magazine". http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/gore 040499_full.htm. Corrado, Anthony, Thomas E. Mann, and Daniel R. Ortiz. ed. 1997. Campaign Finance Reform. The Brookings Institution. Emenhiser, JeDon. 1999. http://www.sorrel.humboldt.edu/~jae1/paper.html Ginsberg, Benjamin, Theodore J. Lowi, and Margaret Weit. 1997. We The People: An Introduction to American Politics. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Goidel, Robert K., Donald A. Gross, and Todd G. Sheilds. 1967. Money Matters: Consequenses of Campaign Financing Reform in the U.S. House Elections. Rowman & Little field Publishers, Inc. Lanham, New York. Malbin, Micheal J. 1991. Money and Politics in the U.S.: Financing Elections in the 1980s. Chatham House Publishers, Inc. Box One, Chatham, New Jersey. McCarthy, Max. 1972. Elections For Sale. Hough Mifflin Company, Boston. Pelletier, Paul.1999. "Closing the Deal: Ten Fundraising Tips". Campaigns and Elections (May):56-59.

Mechanisms and Processes of the Internet :: Computers Technology Web Essays

Mechanisms and Processes of the Internet Electronic commerce can be defined as the conduct of commerce in goods and services, with the assistance of telecommunications and telecommunications-based tools. Here, the term telecommunications can mean any existing telecommunication networks such as Public Switched Telephone Network, Integrated Services Digital Network, or even Wireless Networks. However the major and the most important telecommunication network of E-commerce is the Internet. The great possibility and potential of E-commerce has been realized with the development of the Internet. Therefore understanding how the Internet works is quite important to better understand E-commerce and to develop E-commerce applications. In this paper I will discuss the mechanisms and process of the Internet. The structure of the paper is as follows:  · The Basic Process  · Mechanisms of the Internet  · IP address and Name Servers  · Ports and Protocols II. The Basic Process When we surf the web, we type any URL in to our browser, and the desired page pop up on our screen. At the most basic level possible, the following diagram shows what happened: Our browser formed a connection to a web server, requested a page and received it. Here are the basic steps that occurred behind the scenes:  · The browser broke the URL into 3 parts: 1) The protocol ("http"), 2) the server name ("www.howstuffworks.com"), and 3) the file name ("web-server.htm").  · The browser communicated with a name server to translate the server name "www.howstuffworks.com" into an IP Address that it can use to connect to the server machine.  · The browser then formed a connection to the server at that IP address on port 80.  · Following the HTTP protocol, the browser sent a GET request to the server asking for the file "web-server.htm".  · The server returned the HTML text for the web page to the browser. The browser read the HTML tags and formatted the page onto your screen. III. Mechanisms of the Internet 1. Mechanisms The Internet is a gigantic collection of millions of computers that are all linked together on a computer network.

Art vs. Poetry :: essays research papers fc

Could I be an artist? I always thought I had some flare for the arts. I’ve always been considered a creative person. I decided to put my creativity to a different use, however. I opted for a career in helping others get the most out of their careers. Tonight will be my testimony to helping the real artists get recognized. Tonight is Gallery Night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The weather station did not indicate anything about rain this evening. So, of course, I did not prepare for such a downpour. My lack of preparation has left me with matted, soaking wet hair and my old gym sneakers that I keep in my trunk- rather than the cute brown pumps I started out in that blended perfectly with my skirt. Now, I’m just a mess and look completely unprofessional for Gallery Night. My Public Relations firm has been organizing this event for the past month. Tonight is a big deal. I can’t believe how awful I look for such a high-profile and anticipated night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regardless of my appearance, I shook hands, exchanged stories, and matched wits with clients and colleagues all evening. Everyone walked around the room observing the various artistic pieces contributed by numerous â€Å"starting-out† artists. People were being drawn to those certain pieces that caught their immediate attention. One painting that I was fascinated by was vibrantly colored - almost like a comic book. It was a bright red heart with a silver and blue sword piercing it from above. There was a hand clenching the sword’s fore grip. The part of this particular painting that really struck me was the faintly illustrated couple dancing on the blade of the sword, as if the blade were a mirror. Overall, I was amazed at the use of color, defined lines, and emotion that this artist conveyed in his painting. The wall adjacent to me was full of photographs; some were full color, some in sepia, and others black and white. I glanced at this middle-aged woman, dripping in pearls and cashmere, who had one hand on her heart, and the other held her complimentary champagne close to her body as she stared at this one photograph, a black and white photo of a single muddy footprint. I was astounded at how in awe she appeared to be, almost as if she could burst into tears at any moment. I had to know what she saw in this photograph that had her so awestricken.

Power of a smile Essay

Did you know that many who have tried, but failed, to commit suicide, said that if some stranger had just acknowledged their humanity with a smile, they would have changed their mind? I am going to be talking about the power of a smile A smile does not only have the power to save lives but also has the ability to change someone’s actions if given to the right person at the right time A famous quote by Charles Chaplin is â€Å"You’ll find that life is worth while, if you just smile.† A smile is also contagious, a lot like kindness. When someone is kind to a particular person- that person then feels motivated to be kind towards others also. Smiling works in the same way. Evidence to this is a famous quote by an unknown author; â€Å"Smiling is contagious, you catch it like the flu. When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too. I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin. When he smiled I realised, I’d passed it onto him. I thought about that smile, the I realised it’s worth. A single smile, just like mine, could travel round the earth.† In conclusion, the most powerful aspect of a smile is that a smile itself is the most powerful human quality. It represents happiness, kindness and compassion and can give someone hope. A smile is defined as turning up the corners of your mouth to show an expression of happiness. Though really a smile has the hidden power to change lives. From saving someone’s life to simply cheering them up. We should all smile more often, after all its free and the best thing someone can wear.

Management Yesterday and Today Essay

When identifying unit process inputs and outputs, try to talk with employees working with those processes. However, while these employees will give good information, some inputs and waste outputs may be overlooked because they are too familiar with the process. Talk to other employees and, perhaps more importantly, walk around the business premises and take a good look. For every input, there must be a corresponding output. Make sure that there is an output for each input to a unit process. If there is a weight change in a raw material or product, account for the difference and make sure it is included in the input/output diagram. Remember all wash water, atmospheric emissions, dust and any pollution. Balancing inputs and outputs is a useful method of tracking down waste outputs that may otherwise be overlooked. On the other hand, system in supermarkets depend on employees, suppliers, customers and even the competition for research, development and profit. Because the business doesn’t have control af all the environmental forces, it relies on predictions and contingencies to cope with unempected input. During the 1960s, researchers began to analyse organisations from a systems perspective, a concept taken from the physical sciences. A system is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole. The two basic types of systems are closed and open. Closed systems are not influenced by, and do not interact with, their environment. In contrast, open systems dynamically interact with their environment. Today, when we describe organisations as systems, we mean open systems. An organization takes in inputs (resources) from the environment and transforms or processes these resources into outputs that are distributed into the environment. The orga nisation is ‘open’ to, and interacts with, that environment (Robbins, Stagg, Bergman & Coulter, 2008, p. 52). System researchers envisioned an organisation as being made up of ‘interdependent factors, including individuals, groups, attitudes, motives, formal structure, interactions, goals, status, and authority’. What this means is  that managers coordinate the work activities of the various parts of the organisation and ensure that all the interdependent parts of the organisation are working together so that the organisation’s goals can be achieved. For example, the systems approach would recognise that, no matter how efficient the production department might be, if the marketing department does not anticipate changes in customer tastes and work with the product development department in creating products customers wants, the organisation’s overall performance will suffer (Robbins, Stagg, Bergman & Coulter, 2008, p. 52). In addition, the systems approach implies that decisions and actions taken in one organisational area will affect others, and vice versa. For example, if the purchasing department does not acquire the right quantity and quality of inputs, the production department will not be able to do its job effectively (Robbins, Stagg, Bergman & Coulter, 2008, p. 53). Finally, the systems approach recognises that organisations are not self-contained. They rely on their environments for essential inputs and as sources to absorb their outputs (Robbins, Stagg, Bergman & Coulter, 2008, p. 53).

Exxon Mobil Resources and Capabilities Essay

Mobile is one of the most successful companies in the oil and energy industries today. But what makes them so successful? In an effort to answer this question, a thorough internal investigation can be helpful in determining what aspects of this company are making it an industry leader. Two aspects of this internal analysis of Exxon Mobile are the company’s resources and capabilities. Resources One of the most reputable resources that Exxon Mobil has today is a strong brand name. Exxon Mobil operates all over the world and is recognized in every part of the world (Datamonitor, 2008). When people all over the world know who a company is, what they do, and where they are located, the company gains a unique competitive advantage over the rest of the industry. A good way to analyze this resource is to use the VRINE Model (Strategic Management, 2007). This breaks down in order to analyze its value, rarity, inimitability, and exploitability. For this resource I’ll start by assessing its value. The question that must be answered is, â€Å"does this resource allow the firm to meet market demand or protect the firm from market uncertainties? † (Strategic Management, 2007). In the case of the brand name resource, I believe that it gives them ample protection against uncertainty and enables them to compete, if not lead, in the industry. Exxon operates in over 200 countries around the world (Datamonitor, 2008) The fact that this company is present all over the world, and not many other industry competitors operate in so many different regions, proves that this particular resource is very valuable to the company. If a company can possess something that another company cannot, value is inevitably created for that resource. This resource also protects them from uncertainty because this brand is already established itself within the market and can thrive in it without too much concern about the well being of the company, thus limiting some uncertainty. Next in the VRINE model is assessment of its rarity. Do any other companies possess such worldwide recognition as Exxon Mobil’s brand name can bring? There are some companies that have come close in competing with Exxon Mobil, such as ConnocoPhillips and Chevron, but none can compare with the unique profitability and opportunities that the name Exxon can bring to a region. The name is undoubtedly trusted throughout the world and rarely rivaled. Those aspects of the brand name recognition make this brand name a rarity. The next step in the VRINE model is to assess the inimitability. To assess this, the question of can competitors â€Å"acquire the valuable and rare resource quickly, or will they face a cost disadvantage in doing so? † (Strategic Management, 2007). The simple fact that the Exxon Mobil name is trademarked and registered makes it impossible for any other company to replicate its name. Also it would cost a substantial amount to buy out the company and gain its name. This alone makes the brand name inimitable. Now assessment of the nonsubstitutability is needed. The question arises, â€Å"is there protection against ready substitutes? † (Strategic Management, 2007). For Exxon, their name reputation is one that substitutes have a very difficult time matching. Exxon is leading the industry and continues to be a leader of almost every aspect of the industry today. Though substitutes are present in the industry, none can surpass the reputation of Exxon Mobil. The final step in the VRINE Model is to assess the resource’s exploitability. The question to answer is, can the firm â€Å" nurture and take advantage of the resources and capabilities that it possesses? † (Strategic Management, 2007). For Exxon, they can bring the company anywhere in the world and use the recognizable name to establish credibility and power in that region. This gives the company a considerable advantage when it comes to exploiting its brand name to establish the company around the world. After analyzing the resource using the VRINE Model, all aspects of the model have been met, so it is safe to say that this resource can give them a competitive advantage among its competitors. Another important resource that Exxon possesses is the presence of human expertise capital throughout the company (Datamoitor, 2008). Exxon employs many scientists and engineers that are researching and finding new ways to gain access to more energy resources and make the new innovations less harmful to the environment (Annual Report, 2007). This human capital has proven to be a very important resource for the company as shown by their development of new ways to increase liquid natural gas supplies and â€Å"enhancing heavy oil recovery† (Annual Report, 2007). Using the VRINE model again, I will assess this resource. In analyzing the value of the human expertise capital, again we must consider whether this resource helps the company meet market demand and can eliminate some uncertainty. In this case, I believe that the unique research department that houses these scientists and engineers is one that gives the company a great capability to compete in the market, and even excel within the industry. I believe it also eliminates some uncertainty because while the company is researching and developing cutting edge technology, it keeps them knowledgeable about all the new innovations and ideas that are throughout the industry. This makes the resource very valuable. Next, the rarity of the resource must be analyzed. I believe that this resource is rare because of the entire department (the Upstream Research Center) within the company devoted to letting these scientists and engineers use their knowledge to propel the company into the future (Annual Report, 2007). Some companies have R & D departments, but they don’t posses the funding for such expertise and capabilities within these departments like Exxon has in its Upstream Research Center (Annual Report, 2007). This makes the breadth of their scientists and engineers and rare resource among it competitors. Following the VRINE Model, inimitability is the next aspect to analyze. I believe that it would be very difficult for any company to gain the human expertise capital that Exxon has. Exxon pays particular attention to its scientists and engineers by providing opportunities to use their knowledge to help solve every day problems that the company is facing. Many of these scientists and engineers had PhDs in their respective fields, thus making their ideas more credible and valuable to the company (Annual Report, 2007). This make the human expertise capital an inimitable resource because it makes it hard for other companies to replicate the magnitude of the distinguished human capital that Exxon possesses. The next step in the VRINE Model is nonsubstitutability. It would be nearly impossible for a competing company to substitute an equally effective team of engineers and scientists. The cost would be too great for the company. Exxon is leading the way in Research and Development trends, and substitutes for the quality of employees that Exxon has would be very difficult for other companies, making the nonsubstitutability of Exxon’s human capital very high. The final step is to analyze the exploitability of the human expertise capital. Exxon has proven that the expertise that is present can be exploited to develop new and innovative ideas that help Exxon maintain as an industry leader. One example of the result of this exploitation is the development of Metallyte UBW-ES, which is a new polypropylene film for packaging that has unprecedented sealing power (Datamonitor, 2008). This example proves that the exploitability of this human expertise capital makes this resource a valuable asset to the company. After analysis of the human expertise capital resource using the VRINE Model, it can be said that this resource gives Exxon Mobil a competitive advantage in the industry. Capabilities After assessing the resources that Exxon has available to them, it is now easier to illustrate what Exxon’s capabilities are because of the acquisition and ownership of these resources. One of Exxon’s important capabilities is their extensive research and development capabilities. Exxon’s research and development capabilities are very dynamic in the sense that as new energy conservation and developments arise, they can adapt their research and development departments to meet the new technologies and innovations. Their research and development capabilities go insofar as to â€Å"improve existing products, and enhance service† (Datamonitor, 2008). Using the VRINE Model again, it can be easy to see if this capability really gives Exxon a considerable competitive advantage. First we have to look at the value of this capability. Exxon has utilized the company’s valuable resource of human expertise capital do help head the research for new improvements and innovations that help lead the way for Exxon to grow (Annual Report, 2007). One such innovation is the development of Enable mPE, which has â€Å"substantially reduced waste and energy consumption across a wide variety of film applications† (Datamonitor, 2008). This capability allows them compete within the market and gain headway in developing potentially high profit innovations, thus giving value to their research and development capability. Next the rarity needs to be assessed. Though almost all of Exxon’s competitors have research and development departments, none have invested the amount that Exxon has. Also there are only a handful of top competitors within the energy industry so that alone makes Exxon’s R & D department rare. In fiscal year 2007, Exxon invested $814 million in R & D. Though the idea of an R & D department is not a rarity in its own right, the amount invested and products produced because of their extensive R & D work makes this a rare capability among its competitors. The next assessment in the VRINE Model is the inimitability of this capability. As mentioned before many other companies have a R & D department, but not to the extent that Exxon’s is being funded and operated. In the past 5 years, Exxon has invested upwards of $3. 5 billion in research and development alone (Annual Report, 2007). Very few of Exxon’s competitors can match that without having an almost impossible financial obligation afterward. That is one feat that few companies can imitate. The next step is to analyze its nonsubstitutability.

Men and Women Eating Disorders

Modern society’s inclination to appreciate thin people has led to a significant increase in the incidence of eating disorders. While eating disorders are highly associated with women, the condition is not gender oriented and as such, can inflict both sexes. This paper discusses eating disorders that occur to both men and women. What is an Eating Disorder? Eating disorder is a condition where victims generally make use of food to achieve physical or emotional objective. This means that people with eating disorders may deprive themselves of food so they will become thin, or use starvation as a means to deal with unwanted feelings or emotions. Eating disorder is   popularly associated with   two conditions,   the anorexia nervosa and bulimia, both of which, can be generally defined as the extreme concern to body weight and image although such other conditions as rumination disorder and pica, which primarily occur among infants are also considered as eating disorders. Another form of eating disorder is binge eating which is most common among people who are on a diet. Psychologist Kelly Bemis described anorexia nervosa as â€Å"a complex physical, emotional, and behavioral changes occurring in individuals who starve themselves because of an aversion to food or weight gain† (Lucas, 2004). Those who suffer from anorexia nervosa are characterized by a false perception about their body size. This perception leads to self inflicted starvation or refusal to eat and which consequently results in severe weight loss that has devastating health and mental implications. Other weight loss strategies include vomiting several times in a day, using laxatives and over exercising. People who suffer from bulimia, on the other hand, are also characterized by the same extreme weight and image consciousness but they have a craving for food, which causes them to go for binge eating. Bulimics generally feel guilty when they overeat and to prevent themselves from gaining weight, use risky weight loss strategies similarly employed by anorexics. People  inflicted with bulimia and anorexia are both characterized with feelings of depression and anxiety. Unlike bulimia where victims overeat and purge themselves after by vomiting or using laxatives, people with binge eating conditions eat large amounts of food but do not purge themselves. They do not use laxatives nor vomit habitually but merely abstain themselves from eating or they go on a diet. A recent study conducted in Harvard Medical School showed that binge eating is now more prevalent than anorexia and bulimia (Stein, 2007). Among the symptoms of eating disorders include extreme weight loss; starvation or refusal to eat; frequent vomiting; obsession with exercise; and depression. Eating disorder is both a physiological and psychological condition, victims of which, do not only lose weight but also suffer from other psychological conditions such as depression. Eating Disorder among Women The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) (1995) reported that ninety percent of the people who are inflicted with anorexia and bulimia are women. Eating disorder among women is reported to begin during the teen years, which when left untreated, can persist through adulthood. The onset of eating disorders among some girls are said to follow after traumatic and stressful life experiences such as leaving home or   death of a loved one. In the case of anorexia, women are usually within the range of 90 percent of ideal body weight before they develop the illness (Blinder, 2001). Eating disorders are also most prevalent among teen-age girls. The National Women's Health Report (1995) accounted that   Ã‚  girls who are at risk of developing eating disorders are highly successful individuals who have feelings of insecurity and who may resort to controlling their food intake and weight to make them feel powerful. Eating disorder among women is highly attributed to the society’s preferential treatment to slim women. One distinct symptom of eating disorder among women is the loss of monthly menstrual cycle, which is the result of being extremely undernourished causing impairment of normal bodily functions such as that of the reproductive organs. Eating Disorder among Men The reason why eating disorders have been greatly associated with women is because more women suffer from the disease than men. For this reason, eating disorders, such as anorexia in   men may become under-diagnosed because most people, even anorexics, are generally unaware that eating disorders can occur to both men and women (Blinder. 2001). Eating disorders, however, are not gender biased conditions and as such, there are also cases of men suffering from eating disorders. It is, in fact,   estimated that ten percent of the eight million people in the United States who suffer from eating disorders are men (â€Å"Issues for Men†, 2006). While symptoms, conditions and implications of eating disorder among men and women are generally almost similar, there are aspects that vary between men and women. For example, eating disorders are more likely to occur in girls who are achievers. In men, most likely sufferers are those who come from lower socioeconomic groups; those who feared competition, and those who were not successful in their academics and in their profession (Blinder. 2001). If culture dictates that men should be big and strong, why is it that eating disorders occur in some men? According to Blinder (2001), males with eating disorders experience â€Å"sexual isolation, sexual inactivity and conflicted homosexuality†. Gays, who are also pressured in becoming physically and professionally successful,   are thus most likely victims of eating disorder. As such, eating disorders is prevalent among male homosexuals. This, however, does not mean that heterosexual males do not develop eating disorders because they do. Male runners and jockeys, for example, who are involved in activities that necessitate low weight and who suffer from too much stress and pressure can develop eating disorders (â€Å"Issues for Men†, 2006 ). Unlike women who develop the condition because they perceive themselves  to be fat, most men who develop the disease are actually overweight prior to being inflicted with the condition. Conclusion While eating disorders have always been associated with women, a number of men also suffer from the condition. There are general similarities in eating disorders between men and women, both sexes primarily use food to lose weight and to deal with emotions. There is however some discrepancy in the characteristics of victims; physical perception and weight prior to illness; and symptoms such that girls lose their menstrual cycles as an effect of starvation. Because the condition is highly associated with women, treatment of males with eating disorders has been difficult. Some male bulimics and anorexics do not realize they suffer from eating disorders because they are not aware that the illness can strike both men and women. References Adolescent and Eating Disorders. (1995, Nov. 1). National Women's Health Report, 17, 3. Blinder, B (2001). Anorexia in males. Retrieved March 8, 2007 from http://www.ltspeed.com/bjblinder/anmales.htm Lucas, A. (2004). Demystifying Anorexia Nervosa: An Optimistic Guide to Understanding and Healing. New York: Oxford University Press Stein, R. (2007, Feb 1.). Bingeing Now Seen As Most Common Eating Disorder. Washington Post, A02